Editing Leviathan:Volume 1 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 3===

Hal's light motor vehicle was passing by Ogawamachi and speeding along Hongou Street.

This was an unrestricted race<!--katakana: フリーラン(free run), as in parkour?--> without any need to heed legal speed limits or concurrent traffic. Hal floored the gas pedal without hesitation, racing at full speed.

However, this was quite dangerous behavior.

After all, no one could predict what kinds of obstacles had fallen on the abandoned vehicle lanes. He should not let his speed exceed a certain threshold.

In fact, during the trip here, Hal had driven sluggishly at an average of less than forty kilometers per hour.

But now, he was going at full speed&mdash;

Entirely because he was afraid of the magic beast in the sky behind, chasing him.

Hence, Hal had accelerated to top speed to escape. Soth ascended slightly and was now flying at an altitude just above the clusters of high-rise buildings.

"But for a dragon, it's not like it matters whether I'm going at fifty kilometers per hour or two hundred..." muttered Hal to himself.

Gripping the steering wheel, his hands were sweating slightly. Just by using magic for high-speed flight, elite dragons were able to break the sound barrier.

Hal was keeping the white copper mirror targeted by the dragon in his shirt pocket.

Sacred treasures used in religious rites since time immemorial sometimes became vessels of magical power.

Among such vessels, some of them even carried spiritual energy transcending simple magical power&mdash;divinity&mdash;thereby elevating them to become substitutes for gods.

This type of "sacred divine artifact" was what Hal and others called Grave Goods.

Even if Grave Goods underwent changes in form, the divinity and magical power they had acquired would still remain essentially intact.

Whether processed to make a mirror or melted into a viscous fluid to pour into a mold, divinity would not be lost immediately. Precisely due to these reasons, this white copper mirror was usable in a covenant ritual to Heartmetallize into the leviathan's heart.

What was Raak Al Soth thinking about?

Hal drove while pondering desperately. Had Soth refrained from using flames and magic to avoid damaging the mirror inside the car? Or did he think it was okay to melt the mirror using heat then remold using alchemy?

The former would be good news. At least it would guarantee his life for the time being and offer a chance to escape successfully.

But if Soth's sadistic interest in abusing Hal and his friends prevailed over his desire to seize the mirror, wouldn't he breathe fire boldly and directly?

Don't breathe fire, don't breathe fire, don't breathe fire&mdash;Hal prayed desperately.

At least, not until he abandoned the car to hide inside this wasteland of a city. With that, Hal would be able to concentrate fully on erasing his own presence or even use magic to barely make his way out alive.

Although failing to escape was possible, Hal was going to struggle and exhaust all avenues available to him as a human being&mdash;

However, Hal's hopes and prayers were in vain.

By the time he realized, the dragon was already discharging blue-white flames from his jaws, engulfing the light motor vehicle.

Naturally, Hal was plunged into the predicament of bracing his entire body against the heat and the impact.



'You're asking why is it that only girls can establish covenants with serpents?'

When was it that he had asked his father this question?

According to Hal's recollections, it should have been five years ago. Soon after his childhood friend Asya had entered a covenant with her partner Rushalka, this conversation had taken place between Hal and his father.

'Well, it'd be very long and boring to give an explanation based on the theory.'

Confronted with his son's question, the father had pondered for a while before answering.

'But it becomes very simple if I put it this way: because of differences in talent.'

'Talent?'

'Yes. Jobs and duties related to supernatural phenomena such as gods, magic, monsters, etc have been dominated by women since ancient times. Examples include priestesses, witches and sacrificial maidens... Of course, there are also examples of men taking on the same duties. But in terms of proportion, women still occupy the majority of cases. Talent in this domain is influenced by gender to such an extent.'

'I see. So girls are naturally born with greater suitability to become magic users.'

For a parent-child conversation, one would find the usage of technical jargon a bit too abundant.

But this was commonplace for them, hence Hal was not concerned and simply nodded in agreement.

'You should already know that we humans have cut ties with magic for a number of centuries now. Especially after the Industrial Revolution, those with facetious proclivities who pursue studies in such strange fields of knowledge have mostly been con artists or members of cult organizations.'

What a father. It never occurred to him to consider whether his explanations were appropriate for a child's level.

Speaking of which, Hal seemed to recall someone saying "like father, like son" in exasperation...

'Unused abilities will naturally become atrophied, right? Compared to the age of myths in the past and the ambition-filled ancient times, modern humans' disposition to magic has grown rather dismal.'

An artificial dragonoid race and massive alchemical undertakings&mdash;

These were reportedly part of grand magic dating back to the ancient past.

Hal's father belonged to a SAURU research team that uncovered information from ancient, medieval and early modern times to interpret and decipher in detail. After careful research discovered prospects of new applications for this ancient knowledge, the field finally revived after overcoming numerous hardships and trials.

'The result was that the rare talent required to communicate telepathically with serpents, thereby performing high-level magic, only appears in girls with outstanding inborn gifts in the first place.'

'So in ancient times, it's possible that males might have been able to form covenants with serpents?'

'Possibly, but that said, living in contemporary times, we have no choice but to shove the danger onto young girls, in order to actualize the magic to oppose dragonkind...'

While dreaming of a nostalgic conversation with his late father&mdash;

Hal's consciousness gradually woke up.

He was quite impressed at his young self who had not disliked such a father at the time, feeling fond nostalgia for his father's efforts at fulfilling a father's duty to spend time with his child...



"Woahhhh!"

The evening breeze was blowing across the cold surface of the road. Hal screamed and jumped up.

He had apparently lost consciousness. His last memory was a scene of getting incinerated by the dragon's flames together with the car.

But for some reason, he was now lying in a business district in the city center filled with high-rise buildings.

"Not even.. a single burn."

Hal muttered to himself.

Unbelievably, he was completely unharmed. Even his clothing showed no traces of having been singed.

Checking his shirt pocket, he found the white copper mirror safe and intact.

Burned by a dragon's fire, the car must have been incinerated and vaporized early on without leaving a single screw behind. And naturally, the driver would have gotten caught up in it, but why!?

To confirm his current location, Hal surveyed his surroundings.

He was in front of a train station. In addition, this was quite a large terminal. As soon as he saw the station's architecture with antique bricks, Hal immediately realized.

This was the place people called Tokyo Station in the past.

Hal had collapsed somewhere near the Marunouchi entrance.

In this especially conspicuous spot amidst clusters of modern high-rise buildings, the train station's romantic atmosphere served as an especially grand display.

Clearly Hal was still racing in the car just earlier, but why was he here now?

Hal found it strange. Unintentionally looking at the road, he jumped in fright.

The silver pocket watch&mdash;his father's memento&mdash;had fallen to the ground, shattered. Among the pocket watch's fragments was a small black stone.

A stone covered with sharp edges, virtually without any roundness. It looked similar to quartz.

Picking up this stone, Hal was surprised.

"It's hot...?"

For some reason, the stone was hot. It felt like he would suffer a low-temperature burn if he held it for long durations.

In any case, Hal threw it into his waist pouch first. Why had his father placed such an object inside the watch?

Just as Hal was feeling puzzled, Raak Al Soth's laughter resounded throughout the sky.

"Fu... Fufufu. Despite being a close relative of monkeys, you turn out to be quite promising!"

Very near. Hal jumped in fright.

Frantically, he rushed into Tokyo Station's entrance, then taking care not to let the enemy see him from outside, he discreetly checked out the situation in the sky.

The bronze dragon was flying above Hibiya Street, two blocks away.

Gazing down on the ground surface, he flew through the air slowly.

"I see, you dared to embark on this foolhardy quest precisely because you possess means to deceive dragons. Fufufufu, not a bad trick. O nameless youngster, I swear upon my name, Raak Al Soth, to hunt you down and tear you apart!"

"Th-That's overestimating me way too much..."

Hearing Soth's declaration which seemed to convey his enjoyment of the game, Hal could not help but feel the urge to clutch his head.

He was simply running around like a cornered rat. But since Soth had come here, it meant that Asya and Orihime were probably fine.

This was a fortunate result born from Hal's course of action. A truly great accomplishment.

Rushalka was very weakened.

It was probably very difficult for her to muster full strength to defeat Raptors in bulk like she did in her prime. Even so, as long as Soth was absent, Rushalka should be able to win.

Given it was Asya, she should manage to find a way to victory.

"If only cellphones worked, then I could ask about the situation on that side."

In Old Tokyo where antennas were not functioning, ordinary calls could not connect.

Hal shrugged and peeked outside again.

Soth was flying leisurely, swirling in the air above this area. He was using a dragon's sharp eyesight to scan the ground surface.

Soon enough, he would probably start using search magic in addition to eyesight.

In that case, trying to disappear into hiding without a trace would become very difficult...

Hal dumped the entire contents of his waist pouch onto the ground. Then from these various tools of the trade, he picked out those he felt might come in handy. The pocket watch aside&mdash;the backup Clockwork Mage&mdash;his folding knife was probably worthless here.

There was also the .220 revolver kept in a leather holster.

Hal had gotten his hands on this handgun via channels similar to those for obtaining the forged driver's license. Although Hal was untrained in unarmed combat, he occasionally used this gun for self-defense. Against enemies on the level of a grizzly bear, even this type of small caliber firearm could easily shoot them to death when used in conjunction with attack magic&mdash;

Hal sighed. A dragon's threat level was several hundred million times a grizzly's, right?

''I guess I'm gonna die here?'' Just as the gloomy future prediction rushed into his mind, Hal suddenly felt a gaze and jumped in fright. It was not far ahead, from that expanse of darkness occupying the interior of the large abandoned station.

A pair of golden eyes shining with mysterious light.

These eyes belonged to someone he had seen before, the girl dressed in the scarlet kimono.